Source: Thesouthafrican.comBy Gavrielle Kirk-CohenWorld Rhino Day has been and gone in September, but with over 900 rhinos poached in South Africa this year alone, what is actually being done to deter rhino poaching? The demand for rhino horn for the use of traditional medicine in Asia is leading to the near extinction of our rhinos and our government is debating various possible solutions, unsure as to what measures will actually stop the slaughter. Various possible solutions have been tried and proposed, but as of yet nothing seems to be entirely effective, because we have now surpassed last year’s record number of rhinos poached in South Africa. The South African government has been involved in ongoing debates about legalising the trade in rhino horn. The argument for legalising the trade is that it will enable the market to be regulated and will bring down the price for rhino horn thereby reducing the incentive to poach. However, a recent study in Vietnam, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), shows that the demand for rhino horn is actually far greater than originally assumed. Besides the regular consumers of rhino horn, there is another group of potential consumer called “intenders” who intend to buy rhino horn as soon as it becomes affordable. The demand for rhino horn is fuelled not only by its popularity in traditional Asian medicine but also because it is seen as a status symbol. The findings of this study have thus cast doubt on the feasibility of legalising the trade in rhino horn, as future demand will probably far surpass the supply of stockpiled and harvested horns. In a letter posted on www.rhinodotcom.com, John Hume suggests that the most viable option to deter poaching is by putting some of our rhino in the custody of the communities and black emergent farmers. He feels that if game owners and breeders engage the local rural communities and teach them how to breed and look after the rhinos, it will generate an income for the communities and will encourage them to protect and guard the rhinos as it will be a part of their livelihoods. It will completely change local communities’ attitudes towards poaching and rhinos and will encourage more people to get involved in the conservation of our rhinos. Hume suggests donating 4,800 rhinos to rural communities and he believes that if the communities are able to increase the rhino population as has been done over the last 50 years, as a result of conservation efforts, then in 25 years time the communities will own 29,000. However, he says that the only way in which this model will be successful is if the trade in rhino horn is legalised and the communities can reap the rewards of selling farmed rhino horn.Another, more controversial solution is to inject poison into the horns. More....

Source: Gulf-daily-news.com I sincerely hope that my generation is not the first on this planet to consider elephants, rhinos or tigers as historical creatures," Britain's Duke of Cambridge said this summer. If his generation does not act, it will be. At a landmark conference on the future of the African elephant in Botswana, its organisers have warned that at current rates of poaching a fifth of the continent's elephants will have been killed off within a decade. This is an optimistic gloss on the slaughter of a species that has come to represent mankind's unconscionable failure to live and let live alongside what remains of Earth's true wilderness. In Kenya, campaigners fear the species will have disappeared entirely within the next 10 years. In Zambia, where populations were stable until a spike in poaching in 2009, they are now falling. In Zimbabwe they have fallen by half since 2007. In Central Africa they have plunged by 60 per cent in a decade, and in most of West Africa they have collapsed to barely sustainable levels. The cause - the global illegal ivory trade - is well known, but with few exceptions this knowledge has not been translated into effective counter-measures. Ivory is smuggled by sophisticated crime gangs that find new routes out of Africa to their mainly Chinese clients as fast as old ones are interrupted. Africa's elephants need technology on their side. South African pilot schemes injecting rhino horns with poisonous dye that can kill poachers when the horns are handled could be adapted to make ivory harder to trade. Electronic tagging of living elephants' tusks could give law enforcement the edge in the information war they are waging with poachers, and the latest smuggling techniques might even lead detectives directly to the ivory trade's middlemen. Heathrow revealed a steep rise in illegal shipments using mainstream couriers, which all require delivery addresses. Ultimately, the trade must be shut-down. For this the world needs China's help, which it can offer at no cost to its national interest. Beijing will be represented at a conference on the illegal wildlife trade in London in February, and leaders must seize that chance to speak for the endangered species of Africa. Animal lover

Source: Telegraph.co.ukBy Josie Gurney-Read “Time really isn’t on our side at the moment,” says Charlie Mayhew, Chief Executive of the Conservation Charity, Tusk Trust. “The decimation of elephant, rhino and lion numbers is escalating so much that we don’t have a lot of time left." Rhino poaching in South Africa hasn’t slowed. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached, now it is estimated that, on average, three are lost every day, with an estimated loss of around 800 this year. This means that, annually, South Africa is losing four per cent of its rhino and much of the poaching is actually occurring in the best protected areas. In April this year, it was reported thatthe last 15 known rhinos in Mozambique were shot dead in the Mozambican part of Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. While demand for the horn continues, a solution to the issue is being sought by conservationists. Suggestions have included; de-horning rhinos under anaesthetic, legalising the trade, putting dye in the horns, stricter law enforcement and decreasing demand through better education. Twenty years ago, only 2,000 black rhinos remained, while conservation efforts have brought the species back from the brink of extinction, to an estimated 5,000, the issue remains serious today. It was with this in mind that in August this year, Worldwide Experience, the education arm of the Mantis hotel group, launched a competition in partnership with Tusk Trust and the Born Free Foundation, giving 16-19 year olds the chance to submit a group video to highlight the plight of the rhino in South Africa; showing what they would do to further conservation efforts. Due to demand, the competition has recently extended the deadline, so groups now have until 21 March 2014 to submit entries. Alongside the competition, a school curriculum has been developed by Digital Explorer, with a selection of materials aimed at both GCSE and A level geography students. Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop, founder of Digital Explorer says: “The relationship between humans and the environment is an important part of the curriculum. As the population grows, young people need to have the information to make decisions about what the planet will look like in the future." More....

Source: Borgenproject.orgBy Chloe NevittA group of lions is called a pride. A group of elephants is called a herd. And in the unlikely event of finding a group of rhinoceroses, it would be called a crash. Unfortunately, the probability of finding large groups of these animals in the wild is becoming rare. What is left in place of an expansive Savannah scattered with magnificent beasts, is the narrowing of animal diversity. The foremost perpetrator: poaching. According to a survey done by the International Union for Conservation (IUCN), as of November 7, 2013 the Western Black rhino is officially extinct. Sadder still is the almost inevitable extinction of the Northern White and Javan rhinos. The IUCN describe them as “making [their\ last stand” and “teetering on the brink of extinction.” Unless drastic and prompt measures are taken, it will be difficult to stop the Northern White and Javan from meeting the same end as their Western cousin. Poaching, ineffective anti-poaching efforts, and a failure of courts to hand down severe sentences to punish poachers may all be blamed for not only the Western’s demise but the fact that 25 per cent of mammals are teetering on the brink of extinction. Conservationists are formulating a variety of anti-poaching techniques to combat these effects. Most recently, rhino horns are being poisoned and painted pink in South Africa to combat poachers. Persons who consume these horns will fall violently ill. This technique, developed by Dr. Charles van Niekerk, has been extremely successful. On the Dinokeng nature reserve, where the technique is being used, not a single rhino has been poached. Unfortunately, at least 200 rhinos have been killed elsewhere. As a back-up measure, the rhinos with this dye also have a microchip inserted into the horn. Incredibly, airport scanners can also detect the dye, even when ground as a powder, making the transport of these horns difficult. Presently, the main problem associated with this process is the difficulty in applying it to all rhinos because of a lack of resources. The demand for these products is unprecedented. Last year, the market for ivory caused an estimated 96 elephants to be killed daily. This translates to an elephant every 15 minutes. Ground rhino horn is both a delicacy and is frequently used in traditional medicine in the Far East. More....

Source: Rhinobuddies.co.zaBy Ingrid OellermannInvestigators have uncovered an alleged rhino poaching conspiracy involving two women, a high-powered rifle – and a hired gunman. Their target? A rhino in a KwaZulu-Natal game reserve, one of the rapidly declining population of rhinos in South Africa, as poachers bring the species to the brink of extinction. But, unbeknown to the two women, the “poacher” they procured was in fact an undercover police agent sent in after police got wind of their alleged plot to procure and sell rhino horn on the black market. This is the basis of the case that the prosecution will set out to prove in court against two women from the Colenso district – Confidence Angel Mlambo, aged 32, and Nokwanda Trendy Khumalo, aged 22. They are the first women in the province to face charges linked to the rhino poaching epidemic facing the country. The number of rhinos poached so far this year in South Africa has climbed to an unprecedented 790, with 100 being killed in the past four weeks, according to statistics kept by the Department of Environmental Affairs. In 2010, a total of 333 rhinos were killed and last year a total of 668 fell to poacher’s bullets.Unemployed Mlambo and Khumalo appeared briefly in the Ladysmith regional court on Monday charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, a hunting rifle, and with conspiracy to illegally hunt a rhino at Umsuluzi game park in the KZN Midlands on 24 April. The case was postponed due to their lawyer withdrawing over non-payment. They were thereafter granted legal aid. More....

Source: Learningenglish.voanews.comBy Christopher CruiseToday on the program, we go to South Africa, where conservationists are using poison to save rhinos… [sic\.

“It is a little bit sore, but hard sore, but I’m, I’m happy in the fact that I now know that she is potentially very, very safe.”

Then, we go to Kenya, where wildlife officers are using high-tech methods to protect rhinos from poachers.

But first, we take you to Uganda, where hunters and farmers are threatening the country’s remaining lion population…

“If nothing is done and the population keeps going down, then it will not be likely that we will have them.”

Lions, and rhinos -- the subjects of our conversation today, as you learn everyday American English on As It Is, from VOA.

Can Uganda’s Lions Survive Poachers and Farmers?Uganda’s lion population has fallen by 30 percent in the last ten years. Experts are warning that the big cats could soon disappear from the country. As Caty Weaver reports, that could hurt Uganda’s important and profitable tourism industry.

We are in one of Uganda’s national parks. There are grasslands as far as the eye can see. And there are many travelers from around the world. They have woken up early -- before the sun rises -- and their camps are now empty.

They are hunting, not with guns but with cameras.

Jossy Muhangi works for the Uganda Wildlife Authority. He knows what the tourists seek.

“For most of our game drives, people want to wake up at 6 a.m., in the wee hours, and they really look. Their first choice or the favorite animals for the tourists -- be it local or international -- would be a lion. For every tourist who comes to Uganda, the dream would be to at least spot a lion.” More....

Source: News.yahoo.comHong Kong returned a consignment of seized rhino horns and elephant tusks worth $2.25 million (1.66 million euros) to South Africa on Wednesday, authorities said, as poaching for the Asian black market continues to escalate.The contraband of 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks, and 127 ivory bracelets arrived at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport after over a year of negotiations."It's a first for us," Colonel Johan Jooste of the Hawks special branch of police said of the consignment.South Africa, whose 25,000 rhinos make up 80 percent of the global population, has been especially hit hard by poaching.Over 890 rhinos have been poached this year, already 200 more than the number of animals slaughtered in 2012.The horns, made from the same material as human finger nails, are a popular status symbol in Asia.South Africa has deployed the army in the world-famous Kruger National Park, and nature reserves have cut off the horns or injected them with ink to curb the hunt, but with little success.Hong Kong is the main entry point to Asia for the smuggled goods, according to the authorities.

Source: Thenewage.co.zaBy Canaan MdletsheThe rhino horn infusion pilot project, an initiative to curb rhino poaching, is already bearing results, according to KZN Ezemvelo. In the two months since the project was launched no rhinos have been poached in the Tembe national park and the Ndumo game reserve on the KwaZulu-Natal far north. The initiative sees the rhino horns injected with a poisonous chemical that activates when a rhino is poached. Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo said the project still had its challenges. “This is not only done by us, Ezemvelo, there are other vets from other organisations. So we have to bring them together and work together. And it’s also very costly because for each rhino it costs R8000 to infuse,” he said. KwaZulu-Natal has lost 75 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of the year. Last week a poacher was shot in a foiled poaching as security has been increased at game reserves. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the use of rhino horn has been identified as a symbol of status among wealthy urban Vietnamese, which is a major driver of the rhino poaching crisis. Findings from consumer researchconcluded this year in Vietnam concluded that the emergence of a middle class with disposable incomes was pressuring African rhino populations. This research surveyed 720 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It found that the buyers of rhino horn primarily consider it a status symbol, often used as a gift to family, business colleagues or people in positions of authority. They also associate it with a feeling of “peace of mind”. More....

Source: Iol.co.zaBy Nosipho MngomaA suspected poacher has been killed and five others arrested after a shoot-out with security guards at a Zululand game reserve. Shots were first heard at the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve at about 7am on Tuesday, said employee, Vusi Gumede. This alerted security guards on patrol who went to investigate. After following footprints, the security guards spotted five men and pursued them. Gumede said the guards told him they had found five suspected poachers as they tried to escape under the electric fence. He said the men opened fire on the guards, shooting one four times. The guards retaliated, killing one of the suspects. The others escaped, leaving behind a .303 rifle. Gumede said the injured guard was in a stable condition in hospital. Police arrived at the reserve at about 9am. After visiting in the nearby Ntambanana village, police arrested four men. Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said it had been established that the firearm was licensed and belonged to the father of the alleged poacher who was killed. More....

Investigators have uncovered an alleged rhino poaching conspiracy involving two women, a high-powered rifle - and a hired gunman.

Their target? A rhino in a KwaZulu-Natal game reserve, one of the rapidly declining population of rhinos in South Africa, as poachers bring the species to the brink of extinction.

But, unbeknown to the two women, the “poacher” they procured was in fact an undercover police agent sent in after police got wind of their alleged plot to procure and sell rhino horn on the black market.

This is the basis of the case that the prosecution will set out to prove in court against two women from the Colenso district - Confidence Angel Mlambo, aged 32, and Nokwanda Trendy Khumalo, aged 22.

They are the first women in the province to face charges linked to the rhino poaching epidemic facing the country.

The number of rhinos poached so far this year in South Africa has climbed to an unprecedented 790, with 100 being killed in the past four weeks, according to statistics kept by the Department of Environmental Affairs.

In 2010, a total of 333 rhinos were killed and last year a total of 668 fell to poacher’s bullets.

Unemployed

Mlambo and Khumalo appeared briefly in the Ladysmith regional court on Monday charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, a hunting rifle, and with conspiracy to illegally hunt a rhino at Umsuluzi game park in the KZN Midlands on 24 April. More....

Two can play the poisoning game - poachers poison animals to get their hands on horn or ivory but now poisons are being used in the fight back by conservationists.

On the Plumari Game Reserve, in the Magaliesberg, 45 minutes northwest of Johannesburg, the six surviving rhino were yesterday darted with a sedative and their horns infused with poison. One of the biggest markets for rhino horn is Southeast Asia, where it commands an extremely high price as a traditional medicine. If potential buyers have reason to suspect that their medicine has been poisoned, they will probably resort to another elixir. Lorinda Hern, co-founder of the Rhino Rescue Project, said more than 200 rhino horns had been poisoned in this way in South Africa. "If someone were to inhale too many of these compounds [injected into the horn\, ingest them or handle large quantities of horn, they would start to [experience\ nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and perhaps nerve damage," she said. If a large amount of horn were consumed it could prove lethal. The latest victim of poaching at Plumari is a 15-year-old rhino cow whose 12-month foetus is rotting inside her. The stench of her decomposing flesh hits the back of the throat long before her body is seen.Her snout was hacked off along with her horn. Even her eyes were cut out and her ears and tail sliced off - for muti. More....

Rhino poaching has been a hot topic in South Africa and across the globe for a few years now. Yet despite our very best efforts these gentle giants are still being poached at an alarming rate. Last year saw 668 rhinos poached on South African soil. Disappointingly, this year seems to be no different with a saddening 446 rhino killed by the end of June 2013. Innovation is clearly what’s needed to end this once and for all. The Sabi Sand Wildtuin Association of property owners is one organisation that’s taking a different approach and is bringing new hope to the survival of the species. “Overcoming this present scourge is a fight in which we must prevail,” says Andrew Parker CEO of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin Association, “Our strongest available response against poaching is to cripple the business of illegal rhino horn trading before it sabotages our own existing businesses”.“We are sending a message through the supply chain that rhino horn from Sabi Sand will endanger the health of anyone who uses it as a medicine,” says Parker. Their approach makes us of toxic infusions injected into the horns of rhinos. Pioneered by Dr Charles van Niekerk at the Lion and Rhino reserve at Kromdraai north-west of Johannesburg, this concoction is non-harmful for the rhinos but will make humans consuming the powdered horn for traditional (and false) medicinal purposes very ill. “Sabi Sand is leading this programme because we are located at the epicentre of the problem at the southern end of the Kruger Park, which suffers up to 70% of the rhino killings,” says Parker and with any luck that number will be reduced due to this campaign’s efforts.As you can imagine an operation like this can be costly to implement and the Sabi Sand Wildtuin Association is in need of volunteers, donations and as many people as possible to spread the message of this initiative to ensure this campaign works. More....

The KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Garden (KZN NBG) partnered with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Eco-Schools, Durban University of Technology and Rhino Army to educate the public on recent innovations in the fight against the poaching of critically endangered rhino, and to educate communities about the ecological importance of rhino within an ecosystem. As part of the awareness campaign, an information workshop was held in the Garden from 4 to 5 October 2013 where various stakeholders, members of the public and staff were in attendance. Mr. Craig Mulqueeny, representing Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, gave a power point presentation on strategies Ezemvelo has planned to initiate in order to save both black and white rhino from extinction. These innovations include dehorning; chemical infusion (in which conservationists inject a chemical cocktail into the horn of a rhino in an effort to contaminate it and make it an unviable product for the illegal black market); and increasing patrols on wildlife reserve boundary fences and national borders. Mr. Mulqueeny said particular attention had to be paid the Mozambique-South Africa border as it was reported to have high rate of poaching. The number of rhino poached in South Africa this year alone was 688 as at the end of September, he said.A KZN NBG representative encouraged the audience to see themselves as conservationist and to play their part in the conservation of rhino regardless of their educational background. Mr C Maimela, another representative from KZN NBG, illustrated why it is important to save rhino as the threat to rhino is also a threat to other animals living within their ecosystem. He also encouraged everyone to contribute towards the conservation of rhino species by learning more about the animal, educating others about rhino and taking environmental action such as participating in awareness drives. More....

Parapara Makgahlela Working on Fire’s firefighters recently took part in the infusion of pink dye and compound chemical into rhino horns in Dinokeng game reserve in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria to preserve heritage. This was anti- rhino poaching initiative by the reserve. Working on Fire is known for dealing with veld and forest fires in the country, yet its firefighters went extra miles to protect rhinos. ‘’As firefighters we are also eager to conserve our natural resources and wildlife in general‘’ said Tumelo Madumo one of firefighters who took part in the infusion process. ‘’Chemical compound that can be harmful to humans if ingested, but as a firefighter who cares for wild life it was worth doing it’’ he said. He further said that firefighters of Ditholo team base does preparation for fire breaks and block burns in this reserve to safe the wildlife every year. ‘’We assist with fuel reduction out of the fire season by slashing grass along the road of the reserve to prevent possible fires that may pose a serious threat to fauna and flora in the reserve. The wildlife is our heritage, we therefore need to preserve it’’ said enthusiastic Tumelo.‘’A reserve is also close to our village and it benefits the residents of this village in different ways. We are committed to care for rhinos for the future generations’’ he quipped. More....

South Africa’s Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife recently launched an anti-rhino poaching trial in the Tembe Elephant Park and Ndumo Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal, in which it infused rhino horns with poison. The trial, funded by the Peace Park Foundation, has been successful so far. Musa Mntambo, Ezemvelo Communications Manager, said: “It is very early to start measuring or assessing progress, but Ezemvelo and our partners are satisfied that the infusion of rhino went well, and the community awareness of the project has also gone very well. We are presently monitoring the situation closely.” Lorinda A. Hern of the Rhino Rescue Project added that the trial had made the animals' welfare first priority. She reported that all of the treated animals were in perfect health, and none had fallen victim to poaching to date. Although not fatal, the toxin injected into the rhino horn can have a serious impact on a person’s health if consumed. Hern explained: “As with all toxins, symptoms are dosage dependent. Consumed in small quantities, the toxins may induce vomiting, severe headaches and nausea, and nervous symptoms in more severe cases.”

A Durban environmental lawyer has questioned the ethical and legal implications of poisoning a product that could be used for human consumption, regardless of whether the consumption is illegal. “As much as I would like to see a more aggressive approach to poaching, the use of poison as a deterrent to poaching is akin to the use of chemical weapons in war,” he was quoted in local newspapers. According to Hern, legal opinions on the methodology were obtained before commencing the trial. She said: “All of the opinions we obtained emphasized the importance of combining horn infusions with educational campaigns or other reasonable means of informing end users or poachers that infused horns are no longer fit for human consumption. More....

South Africa—home to 83% of Africa's rhinos and 73% of all wild rhinos worldwide—has been suffering a rhino-poaching crisis since 2008. In 2012 668 rhinos were killed; 2013 is expected to be worse. And South Africa is no exception: poaching is surging across the continent, according to Save the Rhino, a conservation group.The numbers are a reminder that an international ban on trade is often not enough to save a species. In the case of the rhino it may actually make things worse. When demand remains high for a product whose legal trade is banned, the result is a lucrative black market—one that may have financed the Shabaab, the terrorist organisation responsible for the recent assault on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.

It is difficult to see how one might eradicate this trade. The economist's answer would be to flood the market with legal supply. But rhinos grow so slowly that this will not be possible until someone develops another way of growing horn. Instead, then, conservationists must turn to what is known as "demand reduction". In other words, somehow rhino lovers have to convince buyers that they do not want rhino horn.The first step in "un-marketing" rhino horn is simple: find out who your buyers are and why they like the product. TRAFFIC, an organisation that monitors the illegal wildlife trade, has just conducted a survey to identify the most important buyers of rhino horn. It turns out that it is a luxury purchase by rich men in Vietnam: professional businessmen, celebrities and government officials. They do not see themselves as contributing to the devastation of rhino herds in South Africa and presumably have no inkling that their purchases may finance terrorism in Kenya.In Vietnam horn is often bought for the sole purpose of being gifted to family, colleagues or people in authority. Buyers think that it affirms their social status—and that it is good for their health. They believe it possesses properties that detoxify the body and can therefore cure anything from a hangover to serious illness. In business meetings, and other gatherings, rhino horn is sometimes ground to a powder, mixed with water and drunk. Rhino horn is made of keratin, like fingernails. Yummy! More....

Source: Bdlive.co.zaBy Gavin KeetonA recent study in Vietnam, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), reveals that demand for rhino horn may be much larger than previously thought. It shows that, in addition to consumers of rhino horn, there is a large group of "intenders" — people who intend to buy rhino horn when they can afford it. The study shows that rhino horn is bought not just for traditional medical purposes, but also as a status symbol. Rapid growth in living standards means the number of people who could become consumers of rhino horn is potentially enormous.These findings cast doubt on the viability of proposals, supported by the South African government, to introduce a legalised, regulated market in rhino horn. Supporters of such an approach believe a regulated market offers a better chance for the survival of the world’s remaining rhinos than a ban on all trade. They argue that a ban on trade has perverse consequences — it raises the price of horn and so increases the incentive for poachers. By contrast, this view suggests that legal sales of stockpiled rhino horns, plus the dehorning of live rhinos to sell their horns, would drive down prices, reducing the incentive to poach.But this will not happen if future demand is likely to exceed the supply of stockpiled and harvested horns.The problems associated with a regulated market for rhino horn are addressed in a recent paper by Alan Collins of the University of Portsmouth and Gavin Fraser and Jen Snowball of Rhodes University. They warn that there is no sure way of forecasting demand for rhino horn in a legalised, regulated market. The current price of rhino horn exceeds the price of platinum, cocaine and heroin. This suggests that potential demand for horn is far greater than what is met through illegal poaching at present. This is confirmed by the WWF study. Moreover, there is no way of knowing how much the stigma and fear of being caught buying illegal rhino horn affects demand. Such restraints would disappear by legalising rhino-horn trade, and demand could soar, outstripping all efforts to increase supply.Collins, Fraser and Snowball warn also that increasing supply may be harder than is sometimes thought. They note that rhino horn grows about 6cm a year and this could potentially be harvested to increase supply under a formal dehorning programme. But increasing the breeding rate of rhinos to be dehorned is complicated by their small genetic pool and the time it will take for numbers to rise. The large areas rhinos require for habitat means protecting these rhinos being bred for their horns from poachers will be enormously costly. The price of live rhinos has been falling because game farms can no longer afford to protect their rhinos. More....

Rhinoceros horn is worth more than platinum and gold. It is probably the most expensive raw material in the world. The rhino's horn is not a bone; it is made of keratin, the same substance as fingernails. The fibers grow like hairs that have been pressed together. The horn grows at the rate of about 0.8 kilogrammes a year. Rhinos (Kiswahili - kifaru) use their horns when fighting. But it seems that many Chinese people believe the horn represents the sexual power of the rhino. Male rhinos have a penis that is almost a meter long and the sexual act lasts thirty minutes to an hour. Scientists believe that the horn has no objective therapeutic effects. But in Malaysia, rhino horn is used to treat malaria, nausea, fever, heart conditions, dementia and toothache. In China it is used as an aphrodisiac. In 1993, China banned the trade of rhino horns, but desire for the horn and its alleged powers is driving illegal trade involving the unsustainable killing of thousands of rhinos every year. Protecting such a valuable commodity has proven difficult. Full time armed guards and antipoaching teams can be successful but success varies and it is dangerous; many deaths of poachers and rangers occur every year in Africa. Implantation of GPS tracking devices into the living rhino's horn is being tried. Now people are trying the tactic of poisoning the horns of the living animal. According to Jo Anderson an environmental consultant based in Arusha who was recently visiting South Africa, "What is currently being implemented for rhinos, in the Greater Kruger ecosystem is dramatic," she explained: More....

Somewhere in Vietnam, an uncle, a father or an aunt is downing a powdery substance of crushed rhino horn to "heal" a medical ailment. But science has proven that rhino horn has no medicinal value — it is made of keratin, the same as human fingernails — and it is not a cure for anything. The only outcome here is that rhinos are being driven to extinction. So far this year, 688 rhinos in South Africa have been killed for their horns. That figure is making 2013 shape up to be the worst rhino-poaching year ever recorded. Even as I write this, another rhino has undoubtedly been slaughtered. [Mass Rhino Slaughter in South Africa Worries Conservationists\Humane Society International, in cooperation with the government of Vietnam, has embarked on a three-year public awareness campaign to reduce the demand for rhino horn in that country, one of the major markets for rhino horn and where many people are under the misguided impression that rhino horn can cure. Others value the substance as a high-end gift or status symbol. [Javan Rhino Officially Extinct In Vietnam\In celebration of World Rhino Day this past weekend, HSI launched the children's education part of our campaign. Vietnamese schoolchildren are learning about endangered rhinos — and they can pass on what they learn to that uncle, father, aunt or other relative who consumes rhino horn. "I'm a Little Rhino," a book written by HSI, teaches children about these wonderful animals, the poaching threat and the need to stifle the demand for rhino horn to save rhinos from extinction. Copies of the book have been given to children across Hanoi, and thousands more are set to be distributed to Vietnamese schoolchildren in the coming weeks. More....

Conservationists in Africa have opened a new front in the war against rhino poaching. They have decided to target the people who end up buying rhino horn to show them the brutality of the illegal trade. But they are also trying a shock tactic: injecting the animals with poison. ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports from South Africa:The horns are mainly sold in Asia, particularly China and Vietnam, where they are used in traditional medicines, which some sellers claim can cure cancer and strokes.

A rhino horn is extremely valuable and can command up to £200,000 on the black market.

There has been a sharp rise in poaching of the endangered animals with South Africa set to exceed last year's record total. Some 668 rhinos were killed in the country last year and already 650 have been slaughtered this year. Video and photos.

The Humane Society International is for the first time launching a major campaign to stop illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia, zeroing in on rhinoceros horns, which are sought after as purported cures for everything from hangovers to cancer to impotency.

The animal rights group is teaming up with the Vietnamese government to stop smuggling of rhino horns for such illegal purposes. Jointly, they are launching a public education campaign with tailored messages to buyers of rhino horn products. Teresa Telecky, the director of the Wildlife Department of the Humane Society International, says most buyers of rhino horns in Vietnam are older women concerned about their family’s health. A game reserve in South Africa has injected a mixture of chemicals into rhino horns so that people risk becoming “seriously ill” if they consume them. That development will be part of the message for those women. Other buyers are wealthy Vietnamese who want the horns as a status symbol. Ms.Telecky answered questions from The Wall Street Journal’s Vu Trong Khanh about how her group and the Vietnamese government are working together to try to reduce the illegal rhino-horn trade and what else is ahead as the Southeast Asian nation reports it is uncovering an increasing amount of illegal wild-animal smuggling. Edited excerpts follow.WSJ: Can you talk about the situation of wildlife trafficking in Asia, and in Vietnam particularly? Ms. Telecky: The global wildlife trade is massive, involving thousands of species and millions of individual animals—not to mention plants—annually, and valued in the billions of U.S. dollars. Most of the trade is legal and regulated under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). More....

KwaZulu-Natal conservation officials and anti-rhino poaching activists are optimistic about the likely success of the recently launched pilot project in which rhino horns will be injected with a toxic substance to make them poisonous and unusable, to discourage poachers.The poison is toxic to humans and people using the horns will become seriously ill, suffering from nausea and vomiting, but it is harmless to the rhino.The horn will also be infused with an indelible pink dye that will expose it to any airport scanner.The pilot project began on Tuesday at Tembe Game Reserve, and on Wednesday moved to the neighbouring Ndumo Game Reserves in northern KwaZulu-Natal.All the rhinos at the two facilities will be injected.It is estimated that poachers get about $65,000/kg for mature horns, which average 4kg-4.5kg when sawn or hacked off close to the skull of the carcass.The number of rhinos killed in South Africa this year is 618 and 63 of these have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal, in game reserves such as Tembe and Ndumo.Northern KwaZulu-Natal game reserves are a fertile hunting ground and poaching has been on the increase in recent times. More....

South Africa has deployed a powerful and poisonous new weapon to stem the flow of rhino blood soaking into the country’s soil.

On Tuesday Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife took the step of being the first state conservation agency to inject a chemical cocktail into the horns of several rhinos in an effort to contaminate an illegal black market wildlife product, the price of which has shot through the roof in the Far East and fuelled a deadly war that has claimed another 620 rhinos in the first nine months of the year. Although the poison is not intended to kill people who swallow crushed rhino horn potions, wildlife officials warned that it was “extremely toxic” and poisonous enough to make users of the illegal product seriously ill. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, nerve disorders and other dose-related health problems. The first animals to undergo the treatment are on the front line of KwaZulu-Natal’s rhino war in the Tembe Elephant Park and Ndumo Game Reserve which lie on the northern border with Mozambique. The horns will contain a bright red dye similar to the indelible marker dyes used to stain banknotes. Apart from warning international crime syndicates and those using rhino-based traditional health remedies that the horns could be deadly, the dye can also be picked up on airport X-ray scanning machines – even if the horn is ground to powder. More....

African countries and private game reserves are engaging in an increasingly sophisticated arms race against poachers, yet the slaughter of elephants and rhinos continues. Some experts argue that the battle must be joined on a far wider front that targets demand in Asia and judicial dysfunction in Africa.

Every two weeks or so, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs publishes a rhino poaching update, a running tally of rhinoceroses illegally killed for lucrative Asian black markets, along with a summary of arrests of poachers and rhino horn couriers. The latest, dated August 7, lists 553 rhinos poached so far this year and 147 arrests. South Africa is on track to lose 900 to 1,000 rhinos to poachers in 2013, smashing last year’s macabre record of 668. The epidemic of rhino poaching that broke out in 2008 shows no sign of dying down.

Africa’s elephants are also being shot in extraordinary and rising numbers for their ivory, now a hot-selling status and investment commodity in China. Experts estimate that a mind-boggling 25,000 to 40,000 elephants are being killed annually across the continent, which could be close to 10 percent of the total number remaining, and significantly more than are born each year.

Rhino and elephant protectors have sprung into action in an increasingly militarized effort to stamp out this carnage. Governments have given game rangers better weapons, engaged intelligence analysts, and put spotter planes, helicopters, and unmanned drones into the air. Some have deployed their national defense forces into national parks. Private wildlife custodians have spent millions on their own armed anti-poaching guards, sniffer dogs, mini-drones, and informants.

But as the response to rhino and elephant poaching has become progressively more militarized, a stubborn reality remains: The continental-scale slaughter of rhinos and elephants continues to intensify, despite rising arrests and killings of poachers and increasing interdiction of illegal shipments of rhino horn and ivory. And although the toll would no doubt be worse without the anti-poaching efforts, experts say that other aspects of the battle to save Africa’s wildlife — including improving justice systems and launching efforts to reduce consumer demand for wildlife products — have been given short shrift. More....